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Not to be Opened Until X-Mas
Scully and Mulder's investigation of a bizarre death in a Brooklyn church threatens to uncover an incredible plot involving an “inner government” conspiracy, the Vatican, an unscrupulous antiquities dealer, and the object of the clandestine search—the parchment containing the stolen last Fatima prophecy that seems to have an astonishing way of destroying anyone who attempts to read its secret. Summary OUR LADY OF FATIMA BROOKLYN, NEW YORK WEDNESDAY, 1:10 a.m. In Our Lady of Fatima Church in Brooklyn, New York, a mysterious male confessor cryptically divulges to an elderly priest that he has "read" creation. The priest discovers that his enigmatic visitor is injured and tries to persuade the man to see a doctor but he is eager to leave, instructing the priest to tell everyone something specific that he obliquely refers to, and, insisting that he is a guilty man, jumps through a stained glass window in the church. The next day, FBI Agent Mulder, in his basement office, briefs Agent Scully, showing her slides, on the history of the Fatima prophecies, a series of predictions reportedly given to three children by a luminescent lady who first appeared to them in 1916. Scully momentarily interrupts Mulder to tell him that she has missed his slide shows and to wonder why he believes the subject of his discourse represents an X-file, prompting him to further the mystery by revealing that at least one of the predictions was historically accurate. Mulder concludes his slide show by revealing that the last prophecy to be notated by one of the lady's three witnesses was written with instructions that it not be read until 1960. Mulder also explains that a John Doe, the same man who visited the church earlier, was dying of gunshot wounds and claimed he had been a member of a team who had stolen the final Fatima prophecy from the Vatican. Pondering the topic of the prophecy, Mulder and Scully prepare to leave the office and head to the church. There, the agents find a long queue of gatherers standing outside the building. After Scully and Mulder introduce themselves to the priest, who is also outside the church, he cites several particulars that have led him and the gatherers to believe that the man had been touched by God but now leads Scully to suspect that the man had been poisoned. Even though the priest refuses to allow an autopsy of the man, Scully insists that the procedure be conducted. The gatherers consequently begin to throw snowballs at the agents so - while Mulder suggests that the circumstances surrounding the man's death could be construed as being miraculous and Scully rejects that idea, for the time being, but bemoans offending the group of believers, mentioning that her father believed - the duo begin to flee the area. Background Information *The cover of this issue refers to the story as "Do Not Open Until X-Mas", even though it is otherwise known as "Not to be Opened Until X-Mas". *This is the only issue of Topps Comics' series of The X-Files comics to feature an allusion to the recurring character, from the X-Files television series, known as Deep Throat. *The cover art from this issue, without text, was published at the back of the comics adaptation of The X-Files "Pilot", in a feature written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and titled "The Making of The X-Files Comic Book Series". *In December 2013, IDW Publishing re-printed this issue as part of their "Hundred Penny Press" series, which re-prints the first issue of a comic for $1.00 Creators * Based on The X-Files created by Chris Carter * Writer: Stefan Petrucha * Artists: ** Charles Adlard ** John Workman (letterer) ** George Freeman (colorist) ** Laurie E. Smith (colorist) ** Digital Chameleon (separations) ** Kim Miran (cover art) ** Michael Grecco (photographer) * Editors: **Jim Salicrup **Dwight Jon Zimmerman Category:Comic books